The Detroit Lions’ 2024 season ended heartbreakingly on Saturday at Ford Field when they lost 45-31 to the Washington Commanders.
It was the greatest season in franchise history, with the Lions finishing 15-2, winning the NFC North, and holding the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. But on Saturday, Detroit’s defense had no answer for Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels, and its high-powered offense put up over 500 yards of offense but turned the ball over five times.
After the game, head coach Dan Campbell fought back tears, describing the end of his team’s magical season.
Dan Campbell was visibly emotional during his postgame press conference after the Lions’ loss to the Commanders. pic.twitter.com/NIREn7qgRv
— ESPN (@espn) January 19, 2025
“We just didn’t play great, and I mentioned we didn’t complement each other, and that’s the same thing,” Campbell said, per Eric Woodyard of ESPN. At the end of the day, I didn’t have them ready. It’s hard to look at it.”
Quarterback Jared Goff also had a tough day. While he passed for 313 yards and a touchdown, he threw three interceptions and lost a fumble.
“I’m still kind of processing this. I’m going to have some hard nights coming up unfortunately. It’s hard. I wish I could give you guys a better answer right now,” Goff said. “It’s disappointing. It’s hard. We had everything we wanted. Home field advantage, the fans were incredible and unfortunately, we just let it slip out of our hands.”
Now the Lions could potentially lose both coordinators, as offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn are contenders for multiple head coaching positions.
But that was the farthest thing from Campbell’s mind on Saturday night.
“No. It just hurts to lose, man, and I don’t care if you’re the seven seed, six seed, five seed, one seed because I’ve lost at all of them damn near, and it stings,” he said. “And it hurts……..it hurts.”
The Lions led early in the game, holding 7-0 and 14-10 leads, but once Daniels found Terry McLaurin for a 58-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter, the Commanders never trailed again.